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From champagne to handbags and designer frocks to yachts, the growing consumer demand for luxury goods has resulted in a growing number of management programmes to train managers to work in these industries.

In September Skema, the French business school created through the merger of Ceram and the Lille School of Management just a few years ago, will launch its Masters in Luxury and Fashion Management on its China campus in Suzhou in September. The programme is already taught on Skema’s Sophia Antipolis campus. Dean Alice Guilhon says the demand from students in China has been tremendous.

But companies are also looking for such programmes, she says. “There’s a lot of demand from French (luxury) companies who want to be present in Shanghai. It’s a good opportunity for us to feed the market.”

Meanwhile London is to get its first MBA in luxury goods management, but it will be a Scottish University, not an English one, that will teach the programme.

Glasgow Caledonian University opened its campus in Spitalfields, one of the trendiest areas of London’s East End, in September 2010 and will launch its MBA in luxury goods management there in September. The one-year programme will enrol students in both September and January.

The programme is targeted towards those who want to work in the global luxury industry as well as those who already work in the industry and are looking to accelerate their promotion prospects. Brian Duffy, president for Europe for the Polo Ralph Lauren Group is a visiting professor at GCU and GCU promises more links with top industry.

“This is a programme that is focused to reflect the very latest brand management thinking and developments within the global luxury sector,” says Christopher Moore, Vice Dean of GCU Business School. “The MBA will provide students with an excellent insight and understanding of the competitive strategies of the very best luxury companies.”

GCU already teaches MSc degrees in International Fashion Marketing and Luxury Brand Marketing from its London campus.